1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a powder feeding apparatus, and more specifically, to a powder feeding apparatus for automatically metering a powder of a relatively light weight and continuously feeding it.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known to those skilled in the art, an apparatus of the type comprising a powder storage receptacle and a metering chamber disposed in the lower part of the receptacle has been widely used for feeding a powder of a relatively light weight such as a powdery drug and a powdery soup. In this type of powder feeding apparatus, a powder is stored in the powder storage receptacle, and caused to flow into the metering chamber. A predetermined amount of the powder is metered and discharged from the metering chamber.
In the above-described conventional type of powder feeding apparatus, a recess or through-hole formed in a metering section (such as a turntable) disposed in the lower part of the powder storage receptacle defines part or the whole of the metering chamber. Because of this structure, the conventional powder feeding apparatus has the following defect or inconvenience. When a powder is to be filled in various containers or bags of different shapes, the amount of the powder to be fed should be adjusted according to the sizes of the containers or bags. In the conventional powder feeding apparatus, the volume of the metering chamber is adjusted by inserting plate members of various thicknesses into the metering chamber. Hence, the operation of adjusting the volume of the metering chamber is complex. In particular, when a plurality of recesses or through-holes are formed in the metering section to define the metering chamber, they have to be adjusted individually, and the volume adjusting operation becomes very complex.